Regulations in the food and agriculture sector increasingly lead to the application of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) that affect international trade. There is a need to step up efforts to promote greater transparency on NTMs and to improve our ability to measure their impact. Improved design of NTMs can also improve policy coherence, including from a development perspective. WTO rules and bilateral and other preferential trade agreements pertain to food-related NTMs and they are likely to take up more of the trade policy agenda in the future.

The OECD and the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council are pleased to announce an international seminar on NTMs to take place at the OECD in Paris, France on September 13, 2011.

This discussion among high-level experts from governments, international organizations, the private sector, academic institutions and civil society organizations will address the following topics:

What elements are of greatest interest to policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders and how should these be most usefully and most efficiently captured?

It is more difficult both to track and measure the impact of NTMs than, for example, tariffs. How does new innovative work improve our ability to do so?

How can greater transparency and improved policy coherence for development on both existing and planned NTMs be achieved? What can be learned from trade disciplines in bilateral and regional trade agreements?